For The Better (Original Version)

Tense

Skie was tense. 

There was no other word for it, she just felt tense. There was a certain pressure pushing down on her, and it wasn't going away, no matter how hard she worked at ignoring it.

Perhaps she should have realized it sooner, what was going on, but her mind had plenty of explanations. The play had been over for 5 days, it could be post show depression. Exams were coming soon, it was only about a month until Christmas. She didn't have as much to do without rehearsals, she was bored.

While all those things were true, Skie was overlooking the real reason for her tension.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Skie, you ok?" Hannah asked

Skie nodded. "Yeah, I'm good, why?"

Hannah tilted her head. "You don't seem to be yourself lately. Did something happen?"

"Nah, nothing happened."

"Hmm, post show depression, maybe?"

Skie nodded again. "That must be it."

Hannah nodded in understanding. "Well, hopefully that will pass. Come on, we've gotta head to breakfast."

Skie got off her bed. "You go ahead. I need to do something about my hair first."

Hannah smiled. "All right, see you there."

Skie listened as her friend exited their room and heard her greet Danielle and Izzy in the hallway. She went into the bathroom, grabbed a comb, and pulled it through her hair. Then, suddenly, heart pounding, she stopped. Something Danielle had said on the first day of school echoed in her mind.

"Everyone knows the Richardsons are, well, rich. She flaunts it sometimes."

 Skie shook her head. What a strange thing to remember. But her heart didn't stop pounding. In fact, it seemed to grow louder and louder. Skie put down the comb and opened the bathroom door.

It wasn't the same door she had used before.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Skie walked quickly down the hallway, heading to breakfast. As she walked, she noticed Ms. Wheaton's door slightly ajar. The lights were off. No one was there.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Skie walked into the commons with Hannah during their midmorning break, they were surprised to find that Danielle and Izzy were not there. 

"That's weird, they usually show up before us." Hannah commented.

Skie bit her lip. "That's super odd, yeah."

Hannah thought for a minute. "Should we look in the dorms?"

Skie shrugged casually. "I mean, let's give them a few minutes to show up."

Hannah nodded. 

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Danielle walked in. 

"Izzy isn't coming down, she's tearing our dorm apart because she misplaced the $100 that her grandparents gave her as congrats for the play. It's weird, I swear I saw it on her desk earlier, but she insists it's not there."

"Oh no, I hope she finds it!" Hannah looked concerned. 

Danielle laughed. "I'm sure she will. She's not the most organized."

Skie forced a laugh as well. "Yeah, I'm sure she will."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Skie, did you hear?" Danielle said as they walked towards Mrs. Daniels' class.

Skie shook her head. "No, what?"

"I heard some boys talking about it in our last class. Apparently, someone stole $50 from Ms. Wheaton's desk."

Skie raised her eyebrows. "How did they know?"

"Ms. Wheaton's been asking every class. She said it must've been stolen during breakfast, when she left her room unlocked. If no one confesses, they're going to go through the security tapes."

Skie was spared replying as they walked into Mrs. Daniels' class and sat down. Mrs. Daniels began lecturing as usual, and then handed out the worksheets. However, a few minutes after the class had gotten down to work, the intercom phone on her desk rang. She walked over and picked it up.

If anyone had looked at Skie's face, they'd have seen it go from red to white in an instant.

Mrs. Daniels spoke quietly enough, but Skie strained to listen.

"Yes...mhm...oh?....is it....yes, of course....yes, she'll be on her way."

Hanging up the phone, the teacher walked over to Skie's desk.

"Ms. Matthews, you are wanted in the headmistress's office. I'd recommend you take your bag with you."

Skie forced a neutral expression and nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She walked out of class as discreetly as possible and went quickly down the hall, not seeing any point in delaying things. 

It could be nothing. Just a schedule change. Or I left something backstage.

Skie walked into the office. The secretary looked up.

"Miss Matthews?"

"Yes, ma'am."

A curt nod. "Head right in."

Skie nodded back, stepped up to the door, knocked twice, and then opened it.

Inside the office sat the Headmistress, Ms. Wheaton, a man she assumed was Headmaster, Hazel, Raven, both her parents, two other adults, and Izzy.

Oh Jesus. Here we go again.

TBC...